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FAQs

(Frequently Asked Questions)

Getting started

Your dedicated virtual assistant will contact you and start the work within one business day from the time you sign up.

There is absolutely no contract. We don’t lock you in. You can cancel anytime. It’s that simple.

Absolutely. Just email us at [email protected], and we will pair you with a better fit.

Of course. You will get a college educated and dedicated virtual assistant. Because we are an international company based in the US, we will be able to accommodate multiple time zones.

You can always purchase more hours at any point of time. Just inform your VA about it. We will take care of the rest.

IP Services

Aside from being university or college graduates from their respective country, our patent assistants each have at least 2-4 years of experience working under a US patent attorney or law firm supporting with patent and trademark matters. Our managers residing in the United States are all USPTO-registered, and we work very closely with our patent assistants on all tasks. We also continually train and update our staff with new USPTO rules and guidelines.

We have teams of 2-3 patent assistants who work together, but there will be 1 lead assistant who will be your main point-of-contact. Our managers are also always readily available if there is a matter you’d like to discuss.

Our patent assistants normally work with the software that their client firm uses, the most common being: MS Office Suite, MS Visio, AppColl, and Adobe Pro. If needed, we are also able to learn new software quickly.

Only the managers, who are USPTO-registered, reside in the U.S. Our patent assistants are oversea. This is how we are able to keep prices significantly low, without sacrificing work quality.

First and foremost, not all technologies require a license for exporting. In the United States, the two governing bodies are the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). License requirements related to patent prosecution outsourcing are generally dependent upon technical characteristics of the intellectual property and the destination country for that particular technology. However, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, “Most exports from the United States do not require a license” [Introduction to Commerce Department Export Controls, 2018]. For more information, please visit our page discussing export control (https://www.outsourceas.com/export-control/). 

In addition, although our patent assistants reside oversea, client data and files never leave domestic cyber jurisdiction and control.  U.S. export regulations allow FIP-140-2 secure end-to-end digital communications  (see 15 CFR § 734.18 (5) (II)/(III)).

For example, all of our patent assistants have company-owned and assigned computers and laptops that are connected through a virtual private network (VPN) based in the United States.  Our email service is through Google, and all of our software licenses are U.S.-based, such as MS Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat Pro, various docketing systems, and USPTO’s PAIR system.

Yes, all of our patent assistants are fluent in reading and written English.

We are adept at most docketing systems, and we are able learn new docketing software easily as most work in a similar fashion.

Absolutely not. We will only bill you on matters we work on for you, and never for the time it takes us to learn a software or any other internal related issues. We’ll send you a time sheet along with our invoice at the end of each month for your review.

For tasks that attorneys wish to send over, you can email us at a designated email address that we will provide, and all team members will receive that email immediately (there is always someone available at any time of day to assist you). We will then proceed to complete the tasks in a timely manner. You are also welcome to give us a call at any time when there is an urgent matter, or if you just want to chat.

For tasks that the USPTO requires, such as correction of application papers or paying official fees, we can proceed to complete them without direct requests from the attorney, if this is how the attorney would like for us to operate.

Ultimately, we cater our services according to the attorney’s or firm’s needs, and not the other way around. We take the time and put in the effort to learn each firm’s processes and procedures, such as working with their docketing system or following a particular template.

No, there is no minimum that is required. We have clients who use us full-time at a flat-rate price, and we also have clients who use us on an as-needed basis which typically involves an hourly rate.

Other virtual assistance services

Our VAs are located primarily in Asia, and the United States.  It’s how we maintain our prices so low without sacrificing work product.

Absolutely. We will be happy to help you when you have a tight project deadline or anything similar to it. Since our normal working days are Monday through Friday, just inform your VA if you want them to work on the weekend.

All our college educated VAs have been helping entrepreneurs, business owners, real estate agents and executives for at least 4-5 years.

Yes, we will track our time spent and you’ll be able to monitor it daily. Also, you will be provided an account manager who will also monitor and update the status for you.